


𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 [ 𝐚𝐨𝐭 𝐯𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐱 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 ]

by bachiraamv



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan, 進撃の巨人 | Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan (Movies), 進撃！巨人中学校 | Shingeki! Kyojin Chuugakkou | Attack on Titan: Junior High
Genre: Action & Romance, Action/Adventure, Eventual Romance, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Other, Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan Manga Spoilers, Titan Eren Yeager, Titan Shifter Reader, Titan Shifting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-12 12:13:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 16,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29135349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bachiraamv/pseuds/bachiraamv
Summary: 𝐚𝐟·𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐜·𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧:𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -!! 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙨 𝙨𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙤𝙣 1-4 𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙞𝙡𝙚𝙧𝙨 !!𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞  𝐈 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩, 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐲𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐤𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐭𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦.𝐖𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐈 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞?𝐈𝐟 𝐈 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞-𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 "𝐈𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐬"?𝐖𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐰𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫?- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Relationships: Annie Leonhart & Reader, Armin Arlert/Reader, Bertolt Hoover/Reader, Eren Yeager/Reader, Hange Zoë & Reader, Jean Kirstein & Reader, Levi Ackerman & Reader, Marcel Gerard/You, Mikasa Ackerman & Reader, Pieck Finger/Reader, Porco Galliard/Reader, Reiner Braun & Reader, Zeke Yeager/Reader
Comments: 38
Kudos: 119





	1. 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣/𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 1

𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣

"𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐧𝐨 𝐞𝐧𝐝. 𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬, 𝐭𝐨𝐨, 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞. 𝐇𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡. 𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐆𝐨𝐝, 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭. "☽

\- - - -

𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦. 𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦... 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘴. 𝘐𝘧 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧, 𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯, 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵.

★。＼｜／。★

𝘼𝙩𝙩𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙤𝙣 𝙏𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙩𝙨 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙙𝙤 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙚! 

★。／｜＼。★

! 𝙎𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙤𝙣 1-4 𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙞𝙡𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 !

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

✄ 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙨 : 𝙛𝙡𝙪𝙛𝙛, 𝙨𝙢𝙪𝙩, 𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙨, 𝙛𝙤𝙪𝙡 𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙪𝙖𝙜𝙚, 𝙫𝙞𝙤𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 / 𝙜𝙤𝙧𝙚 ✄

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘮𝘦 / 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘢 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙩 𝙥𝙪𝙧𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙚𝙨, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙜𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙖 10𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙣 𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

𝙄 𝙝𝙤𝙥𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙚𝙣𝙟𝙤𝙮 ! 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡 𝙛𝙧𝙚𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙙𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠, 𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙨, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙨 :)


	2. 𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 2 - 𝙋𝙖𝙡𝙢 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙮 𝙃𝙖𝙣𝙙

“Seriously?! Now that’s impressive... just over.. 16 seconds for the 80 meter sprint,” Zeke paused while hunched over out of breath. 

“You beat the warrior program record for the 80 meter sprint, nice.” Zeke pointed out while straightening up, finally catching his breath.

Although, his eyes were saying something different. Zeke’s always had average stats in the warrior program, not too high on the list but not too low. Just high enough to inherit the beast titan, undoubtedly because of his near perfect aim when it came to training. 

My eyes lingered over to his direction as he was walking towards me, finally turning to face him. 

“Aw don’t worry Zeke, you’ll catch up to me someday, maybe…” I stated while looking into his eyes.

Soon after we both fell into a fit of giggles, we both knew I was teasing, that’s just how we acted around each other. Zeke had always felt like the caring older brother I never had.

Biologically, I did have an older brother.

But my family acted like he didn't exist, or rather had never existed. If someone even brought up his name we would be scolded and burdened with a lecture.

Zeke glanced behind me, eyes widening, looking fearful, then began to give me a look that says something along the lines of ‘shut up, you idiot!’ 

Unfortunately, I didn’t catch on before it was too late. 

“Warrior candidate y/n l/n!” 

I heard a voice shout behind me. My eyes widened in fear, Commander Magath? 

What’s he doing out here? It’s not even lunch yet. 

Quickly straightening myself out I turned around trying to look presentable in front of the Commander. 

“Sir!”

I shouted, squeezing my eyes shut in fear for what felt like an eternity, what if he had just seen me slacking off with Zeke? 

That could get us both in trouble.

I quickly relaxed feeling a large hand rest atop my head, peeling my eyes open, I was met with Commander Magath glancing down on me with a ghost of a smile present on his face, almost as if he was saying he was proud of me for beating the warrior program 80m sprint record. 

I instantly mirrored his expression coming to the conclusion we weren’t in trouble… I knew he had a soft spot for us warrior candidates.

Eldian blood running through our veins or not.

Just as quickly as his smile and hand became present they both disappeared. 

As his face returned back to his usual scowl his head turned and scanned over the other kids. 

He turned around and left, leaving us in a borderline awkward silence.

\- - - - -

The rest of the day went by rather quickly after that interaction.

As the sun was setting Annie, Bertholdt, Reiner, Porco, Zeke and I all were walking home. Marcel was also tagging along, unfortunately.

I've always found Marcel annoying, I didn't necessarily hate him.

Maybe it was the jealousy in me speaking, but to be frank I didn't like the guy. 

Having the others around really weighed out the odds, I always felt at peace when I was with them. 

I started to zone out while walking alongside the group, getting lost in my own head .

“y/n…? y/n…” 

Annie sighed, failing to gain my attention.

I had failed to notice the rest of the group had passed us, leaving just Annie and I walking alone a couple feet behind them.

At first sight, it may not appear that me and Annie were close, but in fact, we were.

We had always been close, ever since we were little. She had grown up with in the same household as me, but when we became warrior candidates she moved out and back in with her “Dad”. 

From the outside, Annie may have the look of being aloof or emotionless, but she was quite the opposite. 

Sure, she was intimidating, but once you got to know her you could see how brave and strong-willed she was.

She was always so sweet and genuine to me, and I always treated her with the same respect. 

“y/n.”

she said in a monotone, nearly bored voice.

I was too lost in my thoughts thinking about what I was going to have for dinner, ‘Maybe some porridge… or maybe some-’

A light kick to my shin was all it took to snap me out of my thoughts.

“God, get out of your head,” Annie advised,

“And watch where you’re going.” She said while rolling her eyes. 

I quickly looked up and immediately took a quick side-step, barely missing the light pole I was about to clumsily hit.

I turned my head towards her while giving her a sheepish grin, a way of saying thank you.

As I looked up to the sky, a quick thought appeared in my head and my mouth moved before I could even process the idea.

“Here, let me pay you back.”

I looked at Annie offering my hand out to her. 

One glance at her face and you’d know she was reluctant to take my hand.

After I made eye contact with her narrow, blue eyes, they softened and she gave me a faint nod, allowing me to drag her to god knows where. 

Hastily clasping my hand around hers, I pulled her through the street gaining the attention of people around us. 

Including Reiner, Bertholdt, and the others. 

Quickly slipping between Marcel and Porco, who were talking with Zeke, my arm brushed up against Marcel. 

“Oi! Watch where you’re going y/n… ya jerk,” Porco said with a grumble.

I quickly turned around to apologize when I cut myself off after seeing Marcel glancing down at his arm where we came in contact.

A blush quickly spread on his round face that was glowing under the sunset. 

Ignoring what had just happened I continued Pulling Annie close behind me. 

“y-y/n!” 

I faintly heard Bertholdt call from behind.

“Where are you two going?!” 

He had questioned in a whisper-shout like voice, we were in a public place after all. 

Before Annie or I got the chance to respond, a shopkeeper shouted at us, 

“Hey, stupid kids! Keep it down!” 

We all shut up after briefly apologizing to the shopkeeper. 

The boys all became curious as to where I was taking Annie, so I finally gave in and let them tag along to my ‘mystery destination’ (As Zeke and Reiner liked to call it) together.

We were so caught up in conversation that even Annie was participating, adding comments here and there to our utterly stupid conversation.

Me and Porco were in the middle of teasing each other, tossing rude comments back and forth when a certain sign caught my eye.

I stopped walking and stared up wide-eyed at the big sign that read “ Bakery “, a grin quickly spreading across my face.

I turned to get everyone's attention when I discovered they had kept walking, I rolled my eyes and ran to grab Annies hand.

“Guys slow down!” 

I groaned annoyed. 

“Hm?” 

Reiner glanced down at me with a questioning look.

Everyone’s eyes lit up as they became aware of our surroundings , realizing we were at the beloved bakery. 

All of us were hungry, even though we knew our families were probably at home with dinner already hot and ready to be served, we couldn't pass up the chance for fresh donut.

A small, genuine smile graced itself upon Annies face, a rare sight to behold.

You wouldn’t have seen it if you weren’t looking for it, a cheeky smile spread across my features at the sight of Annie being so happy.

Donuts have been one of her favorite foods for as long as I can remember, she’s always had a sweet tooth.

“Aw yeah, donuts! Good idea y/n! ”

Marcel shouted, bringing my attention away from Annie.

“Marcel, shut-”

I started before becoming aware of the boyish grin on his face.

My eyes slightly widened, ‘why’s he so excited by a bakery?’ 

At the time, I failed to realize he wasn’t just excited by the bakery itself, but because he was there with me.

My face flushed, Marcel had a nice smile, I don't know how I hadn't noticed it until now. 

The slightest pink dusted across his cheeks, his cheeky dimples, his dark hair that reflected the golden hour glow perfectly- why am I thinking such things? I internally slapped myself. I’m supposed to hate Marcel, envy him.

Trying to pry away from the sensual tension between Marcel and I, I quickly ran inside the bakery, leaving everyone outside in utter confusion.

I ducked behind the counter, grabbing a brown paper bag and stuffing it with all the donuts in sight.

Careful not to get caught, I sprinted back out of the shop, aggressively grabbed Annie’s hand and ran for it.

“C’mon guys hurry up!!”

I fearfully screamed at my friends, turning around and watching the shop owner sprint out of the small shop.

“ Damn eldians!! Get back here!”

He screamed at us, spit flying from his mouth landing in his unruled and matted beard.

The boys' eyes widen as they hear the shop owner shouting a few feet behind them, and they quickly take off sprinting at full speed.

Inches away from the bakery owners claws.

I dragged Annie behind me, making quick ducks and turns as I sprinted through alleyways, adrenaline rushing through my veins, a wild smile etched across my face.

I could hear a couple sets of feet trailing not too far behind me, I let out a sigh, happy that the boys hadn’t got caught.

Racing through the streets of Marley the wind rushing off my face flying behind me and tangling my hair.

Slowing down as I rounded the corner coming out of the alleyway , I was greeted with the warm sun gleaming across the sea.

Multiple fishing boats rocking back and forth in the port, seagulls making a ruckus, a small grin graced itself upon my face.

I let go of Annie's hand as I jogged up the dock, quickly slipping off my shoes as I sat down on the warm wood of the doc.

I slowly lowered my feet into the water, sending shivers all down my spine. 

Goosebumps traveling their way up my legs at the sudden contact with the cool water.

I set down the brown bag I had been dragging around next to me and reached in, taking out the first donut my hand grazed upon.

Feeling a presence, I looked to my left seeing the boys tiredly plopping down next to me, and on my right Annie carefully sitting down next to me and the bag.

She fished out a donut, and passed the bag down the line.

All the boys' faces lit up in pure ecstasy as they grabbed a couple donuts and went to town.

When I had received the greasy bag back, I peered in noticing there were only 2 donuts left, I scowled , remembering how I had shoveled an endless amount of donuts into the bag.

My mind quickly went to Pieck, oh how I wished she was here to enjoy one of these few peaceful moments between all of us.

She had been at home with her bed-ridden dad all week.

I had always felt a bit sorry for Pieck, scratch that, very bad for Pieck.

She was always taking care of her sick Dad, and rarely could attend fun hangouts like this with all of us.

I quickly decided that I was going to drop these donuts off at her house on the way home so maybe she could feel a little more included in the group.

Out of all of us, her and Annie were definitely the most deserving of a titan. They had constantly pushed themselves and proven themselves countless times.

I tried to push the thoughts of titans out of my head and enjoy the moment.

The sun provided a warm blanket over me even with the cold water crazing my feet.

I spun my head around looking at my friends, I smiled to myself taking in their blissful looks.

The moment was just about as perfect, if only I had any way of knowing.

Any way to tell that this would be the last time we would all be together like this, because that's how life was.

Life was cruel, and just as easily as it could give something as amazing and blissful as this moment, it could rip it right out of your hands.

\- - - - - - -

This chapter is unedited, so don't mind the grammar.

Hope you guys liked it :)

Wordcount: 2145

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> additional notes  
> This is our first fanfic (yes, there are two authors). As you know this is an attack on titan fanfic, which is a lot to live up to haha. If you have any questions, notice any plot holes, or have any suggestions, please don't be afraid to speak up :) I want to know your guys opinions  
> -k


	3. 𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 3 - 𝙞𝙣𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚

"Argh!"

I shouted, swinging my hips through my kick.

The force of my kick leaves a dent in the bark on the rotting, brittle, tree. Causing slivers of bark to fall to the ground.

"Shit," I swore under my breath.

"My contact point was too high on my shin... god I could've-"

I rambled on to myself while looking down at my right leg before I got cut off by someone behind me.

"With that technique, you're lucky you didn't hyperextend your knee."

A smug voice cooed a couple of feet away from me.

I could practically see the smirk on their face without needing to turn around.

"Pieck... was it really that bad?"

I questioned even though I already knew the answer to my own question.

"Heh heh"

She chuckled to herself, picking up on my slight embarrassment.

Pieck could always read me like an open book. Her soft grey eyes peered up at me threw her black poofy hair that always covered most of her face, having her hair on the messier side fit her though.

"y/n, quit pushing yourself so hard. You already have a titan... it's not like they're gonna take it away."

She reminded me with a sigh while offering a gentle, but sad smile.

I could tell she was doubting herself.

" You should listen to your own advice" I retorted with a cheeky grin,

"Don't get down on yourself! Tomorrow is our big day Pieck..." I trailed off.

I've always admired Pieck, but she could get easily discouraged sometimes.

Although, I don't mind being there to reassure her that she is perfectly capable of kicking some ass. She had fought hard to get where she was today, and I wouldn't ever let her forget that.

Maybe I admired her because she always knew what to say, or maybe it's because she gives off such a mature aura due to having to grow up from such a young age.

I took my hand in hers and gave it an assuring squeeze,

"Let's go meet up with the others."

She gave me a quick nod, allowing me to lead her away from the training grounds.

I began to think about all of us who were fortunate enough to get a titan, we would be leaving soon to hide out on the island and pose as soldiers, get close enough, and take down those island devils for good.

\- - - - - - - - - -

/ / Flashback / /

Us warrior candidates stood shoulder-to-shoulder in a line in the Libero internment zone, 8 kids remained.

This meant only one of us wouldn't get to inherit a titan.

A Marleyan scientist who was involved with evolving the titan powers stood close by waiting for Commander Magath's word to announce the candidates who will receive the titan powers, it truly wasn't fair that only one of us would not get a titan, but then again, this world isn't fair.

"Line up!"

The Commander's raspy voice echoed in the air.

The sudden noise caused all of us to be brought back to reality, temporarily causing the kids' nerves to disappear.

"Sir!"

All of us standing in the line replied simultaneously.

You could feel the thick, suffocating tension in the air.

"Quiet down! Now lets begin!"

Magath shouted, signaling for the scientist to announce the titans.

No one was even talking when he said 'Quiet down!' , must be out of habit for him to scream all the time.

The female scientist, who introduced herself as Maki, quickly cleared her thought picking up on the Commander's signal.

She was pretty, with oval-shaped spectacles and long black hair that twinkled with a green hue under the midday sun.

"Let us begin." She paused.

"Pieck Finger, the cart titan. Although the cart lacks in physical power it makes up for in agility, speed, and usefulness. Its quadrupedal form allows it to move very quickly and efficiently. It can carry weapons and supplies on its back, so it can still be used as an offensive tactic for the military. Equip the Cart Titan with a big gun and you've got something as intimidating as the Armored Titan, just a little bit more versatile. Though it doesn't have tons of physical power, it more than makes up for it with its other capabilities!"

I couldn't see Pieck's face but she was definitely happy, how could she not be? I'm happy for her, she always managed to stay humble.

She excitedly informed us while looking down at a clipboard that was resting in her left hand, a pencil in her right.

Maki's eyes found Pieck's own then glancing over the rest of the line to continue her announcement.

"Annie Leonhart, the female titan. While its certainly one of the most versatile of the nine titans, it relies more on endurance rather than physical power. What it does have is incredible muscle definition, which means it's super agile and great at long-distance runs or sprints. Its biggest asset, however,"

She stopped to catch her breath, a wide grin finding itself on her face

"Is in its hardening ability. This hardening covers a lot of its body and more importantly, can be used to protect the holder in the event that they are separated from the Titan. It's not the most powerful Titan, but it certainly has its uses."

Annie was standing to the left of me, she may not show it on her face but she was ecstatic.

All her hard work has finally paid off. I was proud of her.

Maki continued,

"Marcel Galliard, The quickest Titan of the nine shifters, the Jaw Titan combines power with speed. While its jaw is definitely its most powerful feature, its speed is what makes it lethal. When you combine this fact with its powerful teeth and claws, the Jaw Titan easily becomes a very powerful enemy to have, and downright frightening at times. The combination means the Jaw Titan can take a bite out of you and move away before you even notice. While it's still not the most physically powerful, the Jaw Titan can turn the tide of a fight with a snap of its jaws."

She was practically yelling at this point, bringing a smile to my face, you could tell she loved her job.

"Professor Maki... do I need to bring someone else to come in and do this?"

Commander Magath threatened. Maki's eyes widened, you can see the hair standing up on her neck.

"N-no, sir!" She countered.

Commander dismissed this and urged her to continue on.

"Ahem," she began, trying to shake off her embarrassment,

"Zeke Jaeger, beast titan. This titan has a massive amount of muscle and long arms-great for throwing, but it comes at the cost of the Titan's size and bulk. The Beast Titan's arms are clearly overpowered but overall, the Shifter only has this one dangerous physical ability -- besides being able to turn Eldians into Pure Titans with its spinal fluid." She finished.

I knew Zeke could do it, it's like the beast titan was made for him.

Peeking down the line I saw him adjust his glasses trying to act calm and cool, idiot.

"Reiner Braun, The Armored Titan. This titan is a powerhouse that is unfortunately encumbered by its armor -- more to its detriment than to its advantage. Still, it's a powerful Titan overall, and when combined with the heavy layers of armor, the Armored Titan becomes something to be feared. Its armor protects it while its muscle does the work."

Wow, what a surprise, I never imagined a guy like Reiner with the armored titan.

"We're almost done guys don't lose focus!"

Maki encouraged with a thumbs up, those words fell on deaf ears.

How could I lose focus when I hadn't even gotten my titan yet?

"Next up the Attack titan! Which we don't have possession of..."

Jesus.

"The founding titan, which we also don't have possession of... Oh? We don't have the war hammer either" She trailed off...

"Give me that!"

Commander Magath yelled, ripping the clipboard from Maki's hands.

She didn't get a chance to protest before the Commander continued. A pout finding its way on Maki's slim face.

This caused the candidates to crack smiles and to begin to giggle. Lucky for us, he ignored our fussing.

"Bertholt Hoover, the colossal titan. The most daunting of the nine shifter titans, the Colossal Titan is exactly that -- colossal, standing at 50m tall. makes it overpowered to almost a fault. Taking a few footsteps could simply crush whole neighborhoods. Its ability to produce steam from its body is also an excellent defense tactic."

He finished nearly out of breath.

"For fucks sake, Maki, did you have to write so much?"

She turned her head away from Magath, showing that she was still obviously upset.

Bertholdt, I almost feel bad for him. He's the kindest person I know but he somehow ended up with the most destructive titan.

"Finally, y/n l/n, the 10th titan, or the experimental titan. This titan hasn't gotten an official name yet but that's due to the fact it was developed earlier this year" commander paused.

My eyes widened, I got a... titan?

Oh no, Porco... that means he doesn't get a titan.

"We- we're not exactly sure what this titan can do yet..." Magath trailed off.

He seems scared?

What's going on?

Maki snatched the clipboard from his hands, giving a closed-eyed awkward smile.

"We may not know exactly what this titan could do but let me assure you it is a powerhouse!" She shouted cheerfully.

"You can expect to see a lot of similarities in it from other titans, appearance-wise, the titan should have a lot of attributes as the female titan. I don't have enough time to explain now, but there are a lot of customizations that you will be able to control. Trust me... your gonna love i-"

Before Maki could finish I cut her off.

"W-wow!" I shouted while pumping a fist into the air.

I was nearly speechless which is funny considering how many thoughts were flying through my head right now.

"Haha, cool y/n!"

Marcel complimented, turning his body in my direction, he was standing on my right side.

We gave each other a high five, the clapping noise echoed throughout the area, large grins present on our faces. Which we soon found out, were very contagious, giggles and smiles spread across the faces of the other warriors, even Annie.

"Dismissed!" Commander Magath shouted.

Soon after Magath and Maki turned around and began to leave all the candidates started to congratulate each other. Loud laughs and multiple group hugs had happened, we were all... content, happy. All of us except one.

A frown found itself resting on my face once I had come to the realization Porco was nowhere to be found, Bertholdt and Zeke had noticed a change in my attitude and immediately connected the dots.

"I- I think I'll go, dinner is probably starting soon," Marcel announced to the group.

What a blatant lie, but we all ignored it because we knew where he was going.

Porco definitely didn't want comfort from his brother, but he needed it.

We would all go but that coil leads to more jealousy on Porco's part.

Marcel left in a hurry.

"Poor Pock" Pieck consoled.

"You took the words right from my mouth." I agreed.

/ / Currently //

After a long day of sparring and training with Pieck and the other warrior candidates, I arrived home, my legs and arms were tired and I had a few scrapes here and there.

Overall I was mentally and physically tired, and ready to take a nice hot shower then go to bed.

Quickly, I stripped of all my clothes and turned the shower knob

I sighed with content as I felt the hot water pour down my body, the air in the bathroom swiftly becoming thick and steamy.

So many thoughts were racing through my head, I wanted to scream in happiness but at the same time in frustration.

I scrubbed my scalp with soap as my mind went back to Porco.

He hadn't been training with us ever since all of us had gotten our titans, excluding him.

It wasn't as lively as it usually was without him, everyone seemed a little down.

The training was much harder than it had been before, we had to prepare our bodies for transforming again, unfortunately.

In the end, it will all be worth it when we are on equal terms with the Marleyans, all we have to do is prove ourselves and destroy those island devils.

"Haha ha... heh, this is so stupid." I began to chuckle lightly as a single tear rolled down my cheek.

You wouldn't even have noticed I was crying if it weren't for the seemingly endless tears that followed soon after, it didn't matter though.

Everything was getting washed down the drain of the shower anyways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2,171 words!  
> This was a long chapter with not a lot of character interaction but it was important to write to make sure we are all on the same page about what each titan can do. Thank you for 180 reads in only a few hours! It may not seem like a lot but we are just happy to be getting more chapters of our story out there, this is unedited so please try to excuse any errors. Feel free to leave kind comments :)  
> -k


	4. 𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 4 - 𝘽𝙡𝙤𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙛𝙛 𝙎𝙩𝙚𝙖𝙢

Hastily spreading jam across my toast I tried my best to leave an even layer of the sticky substance, who even cares about an even layer of jam? 

We were setting sail to Paradis Island, finally. Last night I had surprisingly got a lot of sleep, thank goodness. 

Seems all that extra training with the others really paid off, I was exhausted. 

A soft humming vibrating from my mom’s throat, ‘that’s the song she used to always sing to me, but I know I've heard it somewhere else. I could tell she was trying to keep my nerves to a minimum, although, I wasn't nervous, if anything I was sad. 

Hearing her hum that tune only made it worse. 

I’d decided to speak up, a futile attempt at making the most out of the time I would get to spend in Libero. 

“It’s a shame your father couldn't be here with us today…” My mother trailed off,

I was constantly reminded how my Father would make all the money for the family, which is why I needed to become a warrior. Why doesn’t mom work? 

I released a sigh I didn’t know I was holding in before replying with 

“Yeah you’re right, but couldn’t he have taken one day off though? Just to see me off the island.” 

I asked while sinking my teeth into the toasted bread, making a satisfying crunch. Also spilling crumbs on my shirt. ‘Nice.’ 

As I began to sweep the crumbs off me with the back of my hand my eyes moved up, finding the back of the woman in front of me. 

“y/n, you know why, don’t make me explain.” She said to me while glancing over her shoulder looking in the general direction. 

The sun peeked through the window, high lighting my mother’s hair perfectly, turning the stands of (h/c) hair a lighter shade than normal.

Scanning my eyes over her complexion, our eyes met again. 

I quickly turned my head down, looking down at my half eaten toast like it was the most interesting thing in the world.

‘I have to know, curiosity is getting the best of me.’ 

“Mom…” I paused, gaining her attention. She didn’t respond but began to turn around to face me, the dining table filling the space between us.

I knew she was listening so I continued, a small smile present on her face, “Do you think he’d be proud of me?” I quizzed.

She knew exactly who I was talking about, how could she not?

This made it evident that she knew who I was implying when the dish she was washing dropped, the sound of the white ceramic dinner plate landing harshly on the edge of the sink made my ears ring.

It slowly teetered before falling over the edge landing not-so-softly on the wooden kitchen floor, shattering to pieces of various sizes.

Before the plate could even shatter my mother’s hands forcefully slapped themselves upon the top of my shoulders.

Her hands unintentionally tugging at my hair, a low wince fell from my lips.

My eyes snapped to look at her, trying to meet her eyes.

All that was visible was a shadow looming over her face.

“M-mom?” I didn’t want her to know I was shocked but I couldn’t help but trip over my words. 

I was scared, I’d never seen her like this.

My hands lifted up towards my mother’s to get her off me, it was uncomfortable lifting my arms because of the force her maidenly hands were pressing on to me.

“Mom- stop! You’re pulling my-” Just before I could speak up to verbally express my discomfort her hands gripped the top of my shoulders stopping me mid sentence, a pinching pain was felt on my collarbone.

A low growl rose its way up from my throat.

I wanted to pry her off of me and I know I could after all the warrior training but she’s my mom, I’d feel too guilty.

“y/n.” She said in a low, calm voice.

If you hadn’t felt the aura of pure malice radiating off of her, you’d think she was trying to wake up from a peaceful nap judging by the low tone in her voice. 

She slowly tilted her head up, finally looking at me.

Her eyes were like something Zeke would describe to me from a horror story, dull but held so much you didn’t know how to say.

The semi-neutral look on her face didn’t mean a single thing when she quickly flew into rage.

She began to shake my back and forth, my upper body flailing like a fish out of water.

I was completely stunned, my feet felt like they were stuck to the ground, not knowing how to react.

Until she shook me a little too hard, a deep chorus of pops was heard coming from my left shoulder.

“Ow!” I yelped out in pain.

My right hand flew to my left shoulder, clutching it in pain.

My face quickly twisting into agony.

It’s very obvious she knew what she had just done but that didn’t stop her, she continued shaking me. 

None of the words she was screaming inches away from my face were registering in my mind due to the pain, until she began to say something that caught my ear.

“- and who knows if your brother would be proud of you, no one knows because he’s dead! I didn’t want to have to say it again, it’s easier if we just act like he never existed!” Spit flew from her mouth landing on my face, her breath smelt like earl grey tea.

I couldn’t bring myself to say anything because of the immense discomfort, ‘probably dislocated.’

All I could get out was “Wha-” Of course that didn’t last long when she continued to shout her spiteful words at me.

“You have to do this y/n,” my mother paused. “You have to go to that island and kill the enemy! Avenge your brother so your father and I can leave in peace! So you can be equals with Marleyans! Do this for our family, so your father never has to work another day in his life! Wouldn’t you love it if he was home all the time?!” 

I knew the words that were flying from her disgusting mouth was just word vomit, and I'd had just about enough of it.

Taking a few steps back in order to prepare my next move I did something I most likely wouldn’t regret, talking with her won’t get me anywhere with her right now.

“You have to listen to me! I’m your mother, do you hear me god damn-!” 

I took a quick step forward, slightly turning my foot outward as it landed on the ground, ‘this is the perfect distance.’ I lifted my right knee up towards my mom, the rest of my right leg quickly following behind. I pivoted on my left foot, while doing so I twisted my hips to the left to add more power momentment behind my kick.

Not even a second later a satisfying crack was heard coming from my mother’s jaw, with that much power behind my kick there’s no way her jaw isn't broken.

Her head snapped the opposite direction. She fell on all fours while grasping at her jaw in pain. 

“Yes, I hear you crazy- you crazy bitch!” I contradicted while shouting at the top of my lungs, people walking by outside could probably hear the feud from across the street. 

Does she realize what she’s done? Hurting a warrior has serious consequences.

I need to catch my breath, she still is my mom even if there’s a chance she’s menatlly ill, that and I kind of just broke her jaw.

Trying to collect my thoughts was impossible now, all I could think about was the newfangled sensation of my shoulder going numb.

I needed to get out of here, right hand still clutched on my shoulder, I turned around slightly hunched over.

‘She wouldn’t be getting up anytime soon.’ 

Grabbing my red warrior unit armband, I made my way for the front door to leave.

I went to twist the door knob and leave but I couldn’t help but glance over my shoulder.

Mom had managed to climb over to the sink without getting cut by the glass from the plate she previously dropped, she was tending to her wounds.

The cloth she was whipping her face with was soaked with blood from her mouth.

‘Of course she wasn’t even questioning me about where I was going. So self absorbed.’

By now my shoulder had healed and I was ready to go, I’m not sure where but I was ready to leave.

“Pathetic…” I scoffed. 

Finally grabbing the door knob and twisting it, I left the house without any hesitation. Slipping on my armband as I walked out the door.

\- - - - - - - - - -

I had continued to walk down the road, my hands slipped into the pockets on my ankle length brown skirt. 

Any person that passed could tell I was distressed, I can’t wrap my head around what happened.

The sleeves on my white button up shirt were rolled up to my elbows and the top button on my shirt up undone, well rather, it had popped off while skirmishing with my mom earlier. 

To top it all off, my red armband sat in its rightful place on my left arm.

As I rounded a corner I found myself hitting something hard, my field of vision now suffocated by silky blond hair.

The mysterious person and I both stumbled back, mumbles of apologies fell from both our lips.

“I’m sorry, are you oka- y/n?” They said, I tilted my head up to look at the person, my hair slowing falling in front of my face.

“R-reiner?” I wasn’t expecting to see him here, the thought of seeing any of my superiors or comrades didn’t even cross my mind actually.

Seeing Reiner was like a wake up call, I suddenly became self conscious of how I looked.

I really didn’t want him to ask any questions.

I quickly pulled my hands from my pockets, unconsciously smoothing out my shirt and tucking stray pieces of my hair behind my ear.

He just stood there staring at me, analyzing me, deciding if he should ask the questions prodding at the back of his head or not.

Seems he decided to stay quiet, thank goodness.

“Yo, Reiner, what are you doing over here?” I asked while giving him a painfully obvious fake smile.

This question caused his eyebrows to furrow and the tiniest pout to appear on his face, his cupid's bow becoming more defined than before.

“y/n…” Reiner started with a sigh, ‘great so he is going to ask me what was wrong.’ A low sigh left my lips. “You know my house is right around here, or did you already forget?” He teased while placing a hand over his chest, acting offended.

His silly comment a genuine chuckle erupted from my throat, my spirit already lifting just from being in his presence.

This must be why it's so easy to talk to Reiner.

It's clear he knew something was wrong with me but decided not to ask, he knows I’ll tell him when I’m ready.

Now that I think about it, Reiner always knew the right thing to say or when he knew not to say anything at all.

He was good at respecting unspoken boundaries people sometimes set between themselves.

Even though he may not look it, he could be pretty good at giving advice.

“How could I forget where you live? I giggled, “There’s no way I could forget when your mom invites all of us over for dinner every night?” I joked while walking past him, Reiner followed right behind me continuing to talk. 

\- - - - - - - - - -

We all made our way onto the ship that would be taking us to Paradise Island, well Annie, Bertholdt, Reiner, Marcel and I.

It had already been established by the government that Zeke and Pieck would be staying in Marley to protect the people of Marley from any possible threats that may appear while the rest of us were across the sea.

I was gonna miss them, alot.

I had really bonded with Pieck throughout our time in the Warrior Program and I’d always been close with Zeke, I could always turn to him when I needed to vent my feelings or needed advice.

I saw him as an older brother, only if I knew at the time he saw me in a completely different light.

Right now I was pretty much on auto pilot, the nerves were starting to get to me

Bertholdt placed a hand on my shoulder, giving me a reassuring smile.

The loud cheers of the civilians made me realize what was actually about to happen.

I was leaving Marley, maybe it’s for the better.

I turned my head and caught a glimpse of all the people standing by the dock, waving goodbye. The sea smelt fresh, different then back in Libero.

People were cheering my name, as I was scanning my eyes over the crowd, my eyes stopping on a familiar face. I squint, trying to see if my eyes were deceiving me.

Suddenly the familiar face made eye contact with me. 

Now I was sure of who it was.

My own father, holding an unfamiliar child and a hand wrapped losing around an older womens waist

My pupils dilated and my jaw loosely hung open.

My hands reached over the side of the boat, I was sure I was going to vomit.

“y/n…? Hey, what’re you doing?!” 

A pair of harsh hands grabbed me by the waist and tugged me back, causing me to have a violent collision with the back of someone's chest.

“Oh! Sorry, haha… I didn't mean to pull you back so hard. I thought you were gonna jump off the boat or something… you seemed sorta out of it” Marcel said, I could hear the embarrassment in his voice. 

I quickly flipped around, now facing him.

He was rubbing the nape of his neck, a pink dusted over his cheeks.

Marcel’s skin was a warm orange tone, his tan skin glowing under the piercing light of the sun set, his eyes squinting slightly.

My eyes widened, the reality of the situation finally settling in, for some reason I wasn’t embarrassed or angry.

I was happy to be here with Marcel... and the others, it was our chance to prove ourselves!

A humble smile found its way on my lips. 

Marcel’s eyes softened, his hair slowly tangling together due to the wind gushing past us.

I slowly walked past Marcel, making my way to the shared bedroom Annie and I were sleeping in on the ship.

Marcel’s eyes followed me as I walked in from the deck of the boat.

The walk to the bedroom was a long one, probably due to the fact that my mind kept drifting off to the events that occurred earlier in the morning.

Did mom really mean what she said? 

-Elsewhere-  
(extra)

“Ooh la la…” Reiner said in a sing-song tone.

This comment made Annie visibly cringe, Bertholdt unconsciously mirroring her expression.

Marcel’s face flushed, knowing exactly what he was talking about.

He turned around about to make a run for it, Reiner wasn’t gonna let him get away that easily.

“Making moves on y/n? Wow, I never pegged you as the guy that would take the initiative in a relationship.” Reiner teased, his arm slung around Marcel’s shoulder.

Marcel was trying his hardest to make it look like the teasing wasn’t getting to him but his shy body language said the opposite of what he was trying to portray.

Bertholdt tried to smile as a way of lightening up the conversation but it came off more as an awkward smile.

Annie rolled her eyes, this interaction was starting to get irritating.

“Reiner… knock it off, you never know when to shut your mouth. It makes me wanna vomit.” She spoke up, the boys’ eyes turning to her.

Annie and Marcel’s eyes locked, he gave her a nod and a sheepish grin, a way of saying thank you.

Annie didn’t like the attention on her but she would let it slide this one time.

“Annieee.” Reiner whined, Bertholdt patted him on the back.

“Let’s head in for the night, the sun has already set. We’ll be at the island in the morning.” Bertholdt suggested.

The children head to the divided bedrooms, quiet goodnights circulated throughout the group before they finally went their separate ways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I considered splitting this chapter into two parts but I really want to get to meeting the scouts and such, what do you guys think of the length of this chapter? I was bit behind on schedule, I planned on this chapter being released a little earlier but I hope this is okay! This chapter is briefly edited so please excuse any spelling or grammatical errors. New chapter coming ASAP!  
> Word count - 2,802  
> -k


	5. 𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 5 - 𝙉𝙤𝙩 𝙨𝙤 𝙛𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙝 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙩

There was a loud voice shouting throughout the training field, this voice reeked of nothing but fake confidence though. 

Keith Shadis, well to me he was Instructor Shadis. 

It was hard to listen to my surroundings because of the hot sun blazing down on me, I felt like I was going to pass out. Marley didn’t get nearly as hot as this place, I still haven’t gotten used to the heat and I’ve been here for 5 years. 

Hell, it looks like some of the people who’ve lived here their whole lives aren’t even used to it.

A boy with blond, straight hair was beginning to slouch, he was breathing heavily. He was standing right infront of me in the 3rd row from the front. 

“You there!” Commander Shadis yelled.

My head stayed facing straight ahead, he was close to me but I knew he wasn’t talking to me. 

“Yes, sir!” 

The unnamed blonde immediately fixed his slouched posture, his right hand flying to the left side of his chest, doing a salute.

“Who are you?” Shadis questioned.

“Armin Arlet, from Zhiganshina!” 

He answered, trying to match his energy.

‘Armin?’ He was scrawny. I'm surprised he could muster up such a loud voice.

“Yeah? That’s a stupid name. Your parents give you that?” 

Shadis mocked, now standing directly in front of Armin, towering over him.

“My grandfather!” Armin informed him. 

“Arlert, what are you doing here?” Shadis asked. He was now slightly bent over, getting closer to Armin’s face. 

“Trying to aid humanity’s victory!” The small boy yelled with his eyes squeezed shut, he could probably smell Shadis’ breath by now because he was so close.  
I wonder how often people on Paradis brush their teeth.

“That is indeed wonderful... “ The instructor paused, Armin’s face relaxed a bit after hearing his words,

“Then you will feed the titans.” Shadis finished, Armin’s eyes widened and his face immediately tensed again.

‘Did he really just say that? God, people from here are funny’

“Row 3, about face!” The instructor commanded while grabbing the top of Armin’s head and turning it, making his whole body turn to face me.

Shadis began walking down the row I was standing in, probably trying to decide who to terrorize next.

My head hung low, trying to hold in a laugh.

I guess trying to hold in the laugh wasn’t going to work out this time, a low chuckle fell from my lips.

Only god knows how Shadis heard that soft laugh, he stopped dead in his tracks.

I heard his boots clicking while coming toward my direction, he stopped in front of me.

“And who might you be, cadet?” Shadis said in a low intimidating voice, he wasn’t anything like Commander Magath.

Instructor Shadis seemed like a… softie, I had not even a single ounce of respect for him, that didn’t mean I was going to go out of my way to be obnoxious though.

Looks like this time I wasn’t so fortunate.

“Hm? You deaf or something, cadet? What’s so funny” Shadis continued in a quiet voice, he was trying to scare me.

I looked up, he was standing in front of me, his hands were sitting comfortably behind his back.

A shadow sat across his face because of his sunken yellow eyes.

Over his shoulder I could see Armin with a shaken up look on his face, I think he was more scared for me than I was.

“y/n l/n, from southeast wall Maria.” I replied, a salute over my heart. 

‘Well that’s at least where that old man was.’ Who knew listening to that random old guy's story would come in handy. . . 

“l/n, why are you here if you’re just going to be laughing?” Shadis asked.

Before I had the chance to answer I heard a small snicker coming from behind me, Shadis looked over my shoulder so I looked behind me as well.

My head turned over my shoulder and I was met with a tall boy with light brown eyes, he had brown hair with a dark brown almost black undercut, it almost looked like he dyed his hair.

My eyebrows furrowed and I unintentionally rolled my eyes, these details did not go unnoticed by him. 

A scoff fell from my lips, I could already tell he was an idiot. 

I turned my head back to face the instructor, he was giving the boy behind me an intimidating glare, like he was threatening him with his eyes.

Curious of what the boy’s reaction would be, I looked behind me again.

He was scared shitless, it looked like the boy was gonna pass out just from the commanders threatening look.

Before I turned back around I childishly stuck my tongue out at him, earning a quick wink from the boy.

‘What is up with this dude…’ 

My eyes widened and I whipped my head back to face the commander, luckily it seemed like he hadn’t seen the quick interaction.

Instructor Shadis set his gaze back on me,

“You said you were from wall Maria… Correct?” He questioned me with a stern tone.

“Uh, yes sir?” 

Oh no, did I mess up? Is wall Maria even a real place?

He slowly looked me up and down, I could swear my heart was about to beat out of my chest.

Quickly, he turned and started walking back down the line of cadets. I let out a shaky breath,  
thank god.

I hastily dropped my salute, that could’ve gone a lot worse. 

My eyes scanned over the other cadets on the training ground, one head stood tall above the rest.

He must've felt me staring at him because not long after he looked in my direction, our eyes met.

My body visibly relaxed, I sent a smile to Bertholdt, we’ve gotten a lot closer since wall Maria fell. 

He sent me a small smile back, his timid behavior gave me a sense of relief, like he needed protecting.

Although realistically I knew he didn’t need my protection.

‘He’s the colossal titan for crying out loud.’ 

I smirked at my own thoughts, turning my head facing forward.

Bertholdt was proof there were still good people left in this world, even if he was the largest most destructive titan known to man.

He was only a titan shifter because he had a duty to fulfill, all of us did.

Annie, Bertholdt, Reiner and I.. we all had something to go home to, people that were waiting for us back in Marley.

Marcel would have people waiting to see him also, he had such a kind heart.

“Row 4, about face!” Shadis yelled.

‘How is his voice not strained yet?’ I internally asked myself.

Row 4, including myself, reluctantly turned around to face the unfamiliar people behind us.

It kept getting hotter and hotter as time passed.

I can’t let myself get down about Marcel, he wouldn’t want me mourning about him any longer.

Looking down the rows, the instructor just told some girl with a potato she would have to run laps around the field until he was satisfied.

She seemed more disappointed when she found out running laps also meant she was going to miss out on dinner.

I could feel the person in front of me staring at me intently.

Looking in the direction of the stare I was receiving, ‘oh, the boy with a weird face.’

“Didn’t your mom teach you any manners? Staring is rude, ya know?” I informed him while crossing my arms. A lips formed into a small pout, ‘he’s such a creep.’

“Huh? I’m not staring at you…” He retorted, turning his head to the side trying to find something else to look at.

“If you’re gonna lie at least do it well.” I teased with a cheeky smile.

For some reason he was easy to open up to, he almost reminds me of Porco.

He let out a sigh of defeat.

Just because I have a mission to fulfill doesn’t mean I can’t get comfortable and maybe even make some friends.

Unbeknownst to us, this is the exact reason I wouldn't end up completing my mission in the long run.

***************************

My eyes peered down at the brown, lifeless soup in front of me, which was radiating a god awful smell. 

My nose scrunched up in disgust as some unknown chunk rose to the top of the bowl.

At least the food in the warrior program was edible, I don’t even know if this is considered food.

Choosing to ignore the ratchet smell, I pushed the soup into the middle of the table, signalling there was no way I was eating any of it.

Annie's eyes quickly flickered from the soup to me, giving me a knowing look.

I internally cringed at the lecture I knew was to come, ‘you need your nutrients,’ and ‘you can’t fight if you don’t eat…’

Luckily it seemed like I was off the hook today, as it looked like she hadn’t dared to touch her “soup” either. 

I sat listening to my table's conversation, mostly consisting of talk over who deserved the last piece of bread, and quickly grew bored.

Tuning out Reiner and Bertholdt’s chit-chat, I scanned my eyes across my fellow cadets littered across tables.

I quickly set my eyes on the blonde haired cadet, Armin I believe. I peered at the chaotic table he was sitting at and tried to recall all of their names.

The boy with black hair was bickering with the guy who had winked at me earlier, Eren and Jean?

And the pretty girl with black hair was sitting with armin observing, peacefully chewing on her piece of bread.

This went on for a good 5 minutes before I started to zone out… I had more important matters to worry about.

Who exactly had the missing titans? Whoever they are should be around our age, I should keep an eye out-

“Y/n? Hello?” 

My eyes quickly focused on the hand waving in front of me, which I immediately recognized as Reiners.

“You really should be getting more sleep, seems like all those late nights are finally catching up to you, you’ve been out of it- ”

I let out a groan of annoyance and swatted the calloused hand out of the way, making it retreat.

Finally I took my eyes off the group, making eye contact with Reiner who was sitting on my left.

“Woah there feisty,”

He let out a deep chuckle, managing to annoy me even more.

“What were you lookin’ at for so long-” 

His eyes trailed to where I had been staring, and the corners of his mouth lifted into a small smirk.

“Yeagers table? Wow, already trying to replace us?” His hands lifted and rested over his heart, faking a look of sadness.

Rolling my eyes and crossing my arms, I ignored him, deciding not to play along with his idiotic antics.

I’ve already had a long day and was definitely not in the mood to entertain Reiner.

“Hey… I have a great idea!” His voice was tinted with mischief, and I wasn’t looking forward to anything he had to say.

He kept his volume at a sort of whisper-shout, the cafeteria was pretty crowded and we definitely didn’t need anyone hearing our conversation.

Before I had the chance to respond with ‘shut up’ or maybe, ‘none of your ideas are great’, he continued blabbering.

“We need more information on all the people here, so how about you go get all cozy with them and get us some details? Y/n, you’re pretty attractive and can be nice when you want to, I'm sure it won’t be too difficult.”

I couldn’t help but scoff at the idea.

“How about you go get some information? You haven’t done anything productive all day.”  
I retorted,

“Y/n, I know you’re probably not in the mood but I'll have to agree with Reiner,” Annie spoke up,

“A-annie?! You too?” I pouted. 

She ignored my whining.

“We need to gain their trust early on, and don’t go thinking I didn’t see that little interaction with Jean earlier.”

I could practically feel her eyes burning into the side of my head, my face quickly twisted into one of guilt.

Annie had specifically told me multiple times I needed to try to make allies and be on my best behavior, and I had obviously broken that little rule with my encounter with Jean this afternoon.

“Well- I mean… uh-” 

I continuously stumbled over my words trying to get myself out of the task at hand, but to no avail.

I sighed in defeat as I slowly sat up from my seat, picking up my tray.

Once again I laid my eyes on Yeagers table, trying to assess the best way to approach this.

Deciding to just go for it, I stroad over to the table, my hips slightly swaying as I walked, trying to appear confident.

All of their eyes quickly darted over to me as I forcefully cleared my throat.

Eren and Jean quickly looked me up and down, not even trying to hide the fact that they were checking me out.

None of them opened their mouths to speak, so I continued.

“Hey, I saw you guys this afternoon and I just wanted to introduce myself,”

Armin's face quickly lit up into a sweet smile, and Jean just gave me a sly smirk, which I promptly ignored.

“I’m y/n, mind if I sit with you guys?” I rested my hands on the table trying to show confidence in hopes of not getting rejected. 

As I leaned over the table waiting for a response, I caught Armin's eyes flickering down to my chest, his eyes quickly looking elsewhere, refusing to make eye contact as he burst into a bright blush.

Trying to find out what made the boy so flustered, I slowly peared down, realizing that the top buttons of my shirt were undone, exposing a hefty amount of cleavage.

Shit, I unbuttoned them earlier because of the heat. 

Quickly noticing how I just nearly unintentionally flashed them I quickly straightened up and tucked my hands behind my back.

Play it off…

I peeked over to where Annie, Bert and Reiner were sitting.

Oh no.

All three of them had shit-eating grins plastered over their faces.

Annie held her head low trying to hide her smirk, Bertholdt was slightly chuckling but when our eyes met his eyes widened and he turned away. 

But Reiner, oh Reiner.

Reiner’s face was bright red, cheeks puffed out and his eyes bulging.

He won’t be able to hold it for much longer.

Reiner always got off on seeing his friends get embarrassed.

Ugh, asshole.

A loud gush of air broke through his lips and he hit his fists on the table, a loud laugh erupting straight from his chest.

People scattered around the cafeteria found themselves looking at the corner Annie, Bertholdt and Reiner were sitting. 

Reiner just kept laughing his ass off.

My fist slightly clenched, what a jerk.

The girl with jet black hair sitting at the table in front of me cleared her throat, making me quickly spin my head around back to Yeagers table.

“What’s up with that guy?” Jean scoffed while setting his elbow on the table, his chin placed upon his hand.

“Just ignore Reiner, he’a a dick.” I groaned in a mixture of annoyance and embarrassment.

He totally set me up, he knew my shirt was undone and just chose not to point it out. 

Jean and Eren chuckled at the comment, their eyes continuously scanning over me.

“So... could I maybe sit with you guys?”

Eren quickly nodded, patting the spot on his left, scooting away from Mikasa to make space.

I shuffled over and set down my tray, plopping down onto the bench, peering at Mikasa. 

She obviously wasn't very fond of the idea of the seating arrangements.

We spent the rest of our time in the dining hall introducing ourselves and why we were here. 

I also found out Mikasa and Eren were siblings, well she was adopted.

It’s clear they aren’t on the same page in their relationship though, good to know.

Armin, Eren and Mikasa all were closer than I expected, this could be hard getting any information out of them. 

Jean was here because he wants to “live a nice and easy life in the inner wall.” 

He’s too prideful for his own good. He’s definitely in for a rude awakening. 

I felt someone staring at me from across the dining hall, it was Annie signaling that they were going to leave. 

I nodded my head telling her that I understood as I turned back to face the table I was sitting at, apparently I wasn’t quick enough for her though. 

I felt a hand on my shoulder, “y/n.” Annie said quietly. 

The whole table went quiet, almost awkward, they just don’t know Annie like I do. 

Finishing up my last bite of bread, I grabbed my tray and stood up.

“Alright I’m going to head out. Thanks for letting me sit with you guys, you all aren't too bad.”

I winked and shot them a small grin, and with that I swiftly walked away Annie trailing behind but she picked up her pace. 

We ended up walking out of the dining hall side-by-side as I dumped my dinner tray on the dirty dishes rack. 

Reiner and Bertholdt not too far ahead of us. 

Our hands brushed up against each other, I grabbed her hand and interlocked our fingers as we walked. 

Annie left out an audible sigh, “What are you doing? I thought we stopped holding hands back in Marley.” 

“You say that but I don't see you pulling your hand away.” I teased, sticking my tongue out playfully while turning my head to look at her. 

Annie just looked at her feet, probably embarrassed to be holding hands like a child.

“You know I’m just messing with you…” I said while turning to face forwards again. 

“It just feels right to be close to you.” I finished

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, Annie and y/n>>> anything else  
> I apologize for making you guys wait so long for this chapter, I really hope you guys enjoy reading! I hope we didn't disappoint with this update. As usual this chapter was barely edited (whoops), let me know anything else you guys would like to see in the story. :)  
> Word count - 3026, a bit longer than usual.  
> -k


	6. 𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 6 - 𝙇𝙪𝙧𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜

I swiftly flipped over again for what seemed like the hundredth time.

Hours had passed since I initially laid down for bed, and I hadn't gotten a wink of sleep yet.

I rested the back of my forearm against my forehead as I released a loud sigh. 

My eyes slowly opened, peering at the window on the other side of the room. There was a full moon, the stars seemed to almost be twinkling.

I sat in awe, just staring through the glass for a couple minutes before I flipped the blanket off of me, sitting straight up.

My feet slipped off of the bed, making contact with the icy-cold floor beneath me. 

Before I had the chance to make another move, I heard a soft rustling near me.

Looking over my shoulder, my eyes settled on a pair of sharp blue eyes that glowed under the moonlight.

“Go to bed, it's late.” A raspy but stern voice whispered from the bed across from mine.

I immediately recognized the voice of Annie, a small grin growing on my face.

“You should take your own advice, why are you awake? Hm?” I teased back, my thumb resting underneath my chin symbolizing a thinking face. 

We had to stay quiet so we didn’t wake the other girls who were fortunate enough to be asleep.

Annie scoffed.

“I was just thinking. It doesn’t matter anyways, get some sleep.” She stated rather factually.

It was obvious that she was done with this conversation, soon after hearing her rustle back into her blanket, a soft sigh left her lips.

I rolled my eyes, even though I knew Annie couldn’t see it.

Laying back down, I decided to wait until she had fallen asleep to make any moves, so as to not get caught sneaking out.

I could only imagine the scolding I would receive from my superiors if I got caught leaving the cabins at such hours.

I sat staring at the ceiling getting lost in my own thoughts. Nothing very eventful happened today, except for that little embarrassing moment back at Yeagers table.

‘That reminds me, definitely not gonna forget about that little stunt that Reiner pulled.’

I let about 15 minutes pass before I got back up, I slowly put one foot down at a time, careful to make as little noise as possible.

I finally stood up to my full length, my hands nervously playing with the hem of my nightgown.

Slowly, I creeped over to the side of Annie's bed, crouching down to get a good look at her face.

‘Yep, she's knocked out, what a cute sleeper…’

I mentally took a picture at the sight of Annie all snuggled up in her blankets.

My feet patted across the wooden floor before my hand grasped the cold metal door handle. Slowly, I pulled the door open inch by inch, praying that nobody would wake up.

The door suddenly made a harsh creaking sound. 

I froze in place, ‘just my luck.’

‘If someone found me in this position how would I explain myself? I could say I was just going to use the bathroom… yeah-’

Suddenly there was a harsh thud, and the sound of blankets falling.

‘Fucking hell’

My head quickly made a 180°, and my eyes scanned the room. 

It was still almost pitch-black, the only light being the moonlight coming from the door and the windows.

It was practically impossible to detect where the sound came from.

Deciding I shouldn’t stay any longer to investigate, I quietly shut the door and sped walked off the cabin deck.

‘Its now or never.’

I was immediately hit with a waft of cold air, a shiver ran up my spine.

On instinct I wrapped my arms around my body trying to shield me from the nipping breeze.

I slowly looked around, my eyes scanning over my surroundings as paranoia flooded my brain. 

The land was mostly barren so there was room for training, sparing, and other activities of the sort.

If I was caught there’d be no where to hide.

Beyond the bare ground there was a forest, a perfect spot to practice our ODM gear out, though we haven’t had the chance to learn how to use it yet.

To my left there was the cafeteria and stables, not a person in sight.

I sighed in relief, there was a peaceful atmosphere.

I was suddenly snapped out of my thoughts when I heard the familiar sound of a door creaking open behind me.

I froze in fear, too nervous to turn around.

My heartbeat sped up, I could practically feel it beating out of my chest.

‘Are they gonna kick me out? I have nowhere else to go... what would people think if I came back a failure of a warrior?’

“Y/n?”

‘Thank god’

My head snapped in the direction of the voice, a soft smile gracing itself onto my features.

“Berty?! You scared me, what are you doing out this late?”

‘I’m lucky it was just Bertholdt, if anyone else came out who knows what would have happened.’

“Y/n, I told you to stop calling me that.. it's embarrassing.” He said while rubbing the nape of his neck, looking anywhere but me. 

“C’mon, it’s a cute name.” I insisted with a playful wink, Bertholdt just disregarded my playful gesture. 

“Y/n what are you doing out here? It’s freezing and you’re wearing a nightgown…” Bertholdt stated while glancing up and down my figure.

I shifted my weight to one leg and crossed my arms over my chest, a pout finding its way on my face. 

“Wow, so nosey.” I dramatically said.

“You know it’s not like that.” Bertholdt hastily responded, a look of guilt spread across his face. 

“I know, just messin’ with ya” I assured while giving him a cheeky smile. 

His face relaxed at my comment.

My smile quickly dissipated when I felt another presence in the area--my titan powers heighten my senses in and out of titan form.

My eyes darted across the training ground, it felt like we were being watched.

I chose to ignore the twisting paranoia in my gut, it didn’t seem like Bertholdt noticed anything anyways.

\- - - - -

Bertholdt and I made our way deeper into the thick forest, the only source of light being the slivers of light that slipped through the trees. 

A comfortable silence clouded the air around us, the only noises being our soft breathing and footsteps against the grass.

‘Ugh, why didn’t I wear slippers, or socks at least’

Some may say that Bertholdt is ‘weak’ or even ‘shy’ but he’s not, he just lacks the quality of being able to take initiative. 

Although in reality, he’s really just a taciturn boy with a kind heart who’s trying to find himself.

‘Hell, I’m still trying to find myself.’

“Say Bertholdt… can I talk to you about something?” I asked as we approached a small pond that reflected the night sky beautifully. 

“I think you know the answer to that,” he paused to chuckle at his own comment. “Let’s take a break while we talk.” He suggested. 

We made our way to the makeshift seats that were placed around the pond, the ‘seats’ were really just cut down tree trunks that us warriors use for meetings.

I approached the seat, using my hand to whip any debris off of the trunk, and slowly sat.

Bertholdt soon copied my actions, sitting on the seat next to me.

We sat in silence for a few minutes, admiring the peaceful moment, a rare occurrence lately.

My eyes scanned over the calm water, the cool night breeze running through my hair, grazing my features.

I finally broke the silence with a loud sigh, Bertholdt looked over at me patiently.

“How much do you remember from Marley?” I questioned, it felt like a weight already got lifted off my shoulders.

“W-what? y/n you can’t just ask that, you know we can’t talk about Marley without all of us here.” He warned me.

This made me laugh, he always just did what people told him to do without question.

“Seriously? Don’t you want to talk about our home town?” I asked while tilting my head back to look up at the thick forest that stood above me.

Bertholdt didn’t didn’t respond, I just felt his eyes linger on me.

Waiting a couple seconds, I decided to just spit it out.

“My dad had an affair,” I stated, looking ahead at the pond in front of us, “He even had another kid, too.”

His eyes widened, and for what seemed like eternity he sat staring out into the distance.

He finally opened his mouth to speak, but before he could get any words out I unintentionally cut him off.

A rush of adrenaline coursed through my body, I felt so relieved telling someone about my dad.

“What a scumbag,” I thought out loud, a tint of annoyance in my voice.

A staggered and breathy laugh rose from my throat, I gently shook my head in disbelief. 

“God, this is insane,” I paused, “What are we even doing here? We’ve made no progress and-” 

“y/n... are you questioning the mission?” Bertholdt asked, although it felt more like he was threatening me.

“Bertholdt, you- you know that’s not what I meant-”

My sorry excuses were quickly cut short by the sound of leaves rustling behind us. 

“Who’s-” Bertholdt started, I cut him off by raising my index finger up to my lips.

We both stared into the infinite void of trees that surrounded us, trying to pinpoint where the sound came from.

“Must be an animal.” Bertholdt said, giving me a knowing look. 

He rose to his feet and put his hands in his pockets.

“Yep, you’re right let’s head back.” I suggested while rising from my seated position on the tree trunk. 

“We don’t want to get caught, do we?” the tone in my voice was all he needed to hear to know that I understood his message. 

I had no idea who or what was out lurking in the trees that night, or how much they heard.

\- - - - -

My nose scrunched at the golden light that leaked into the girls cabin.

I layed in bed with my eyes closed, thinking about how tired I was.

‘I shouldn’t have left the cabin for so long last night…’

I finally opened my eyes when a shadow stood over my bed, temporarily blocking the morning glow.

I was immediately met with wide copper colored eyes, the smell of oats wafting into my face.

The person’s eyes softened once they realized I was fully conscious. 

My nose scrunched up at the smell, my stomach rumbling.

‘Oh the girl who had to run a bunch on the first day, Sasha.’

“...What time is it?” I grumbled, stuffing my face into the pillow.

“About 8 am I believe?” Sasha let out a sly chuckle, “You’re the last girl asleep, and you sorta missed breakfast…” She grumbled the last part,

“I- what?! Why didn’t anyone wake me up?!” My body automatically shot up, Sasha had to step back to avoid our heads colliding. 

I threw myself out of bed, scurrying around picking up pieces of my uniform.

‘I really need to start organizing my stuff.’

“Sorry… I would have woken you up but you seemed really tired,” She stated, “Oh! I managed to snatch you an extra bowl of oatmeal!” She finished.

‘Does Sasha have an accent?’

She extended her arms out in front of her, revealing a small bowl of oats. 

My face quickly lit up at the sight of food, I didn’t realize how hungry I was.

I gratefully accepted the food from her hands and turned around to set it on my night stand.

“They also were serving juice this morning but I accidentally drank yours on the way over here.” She sheepishly admitted.

“Accidentally?” I teased, while buttoning up my dress shirt.

She just huffed through her nose, she turned to walk away but I stopped her.

“Sasha, where are you from? It’s like you have an accent.” I asked, hopefully not sounding too nosey.

“Accent? I’m from a village in the southern territory of Wall Maria!” She informed me.

Before I had the chance to respond she began talking again.

“It sounds like you may have a bit of an accent too, where did you say you were from again?” Sasha questioned.

“You don’t remember where I’m from… even after my introduction on the first day…” I sighed loudly, quite obviously messing with her.

“O-oh y/n-” Sasha stumbled over her words.

I began to chuckle.

She quickly picked up on my joking and began to laugh also.

“Well… training starts in about an hour so enjoy!” She gave me a bright smile before speeding out of the shared room.

I swiftly buckled up my harness, already worn out from all the running around, I plopped back down onto my bed letting out a soft sigh as I began to eat my oatmeal.

After eating and resting for a few minutes, I sat up and scooted to the edge of my bed to slip my boots on.

Straightening out my bed sheets I got distracted looking out the window, Jean and Marco doing early morning chores.

‘Wow they sure are going above and beyond, must want to join the Military Police. Ass kissers...’

On my way out the door I grabbed my cadet corps jacket and slipped my arms through the jacket sleeves.

Pushing the door open I was met with the fresh, cool morning air.

For once it wasn’t so hot out.

‘I hope I didn’t just jinx that.’

\- - - - -

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The other author and I have tik tok accounts where we will be posting leaks of upcoming chapters and such, be our mutuals! H - @birdshitq K - @bachiraamv 
> 
> This was it a bit of a filler chapter but it was fun to write, we got to see a little bit of Bertholdt and Sasha. Chapter is unedited. Word count - 2,282  
> -k


	7. 𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 7 - 𝙏𝙖𝙡𝙠

Crickets chirped as the sun reached its peak. 

Clouds littered across the sky, giving the cadets a moment of relief when a cloud blocked the sun's rays.

A drop of sweat slowly slid down my forehead, dripping onto the floor.

“First, we’ll evaluate what you have!” Shadis said, voice ripping through the previously calm air. 

“Anyone who isn’t able to do this can’t even serve as a decoy!” He paused, putting his hands behind his back, “If you don’t perform well you’ll be sent to the frontier!”

Shadis was standing in front of a three legged structure, the three posts made from tree trunks met at the top making a pyramid shape.

Two wires hung down from the top of the structure, stopping about 3 feet off the ground. 

‘This thing is tall.’

There were four of these structures.

The cadets were split evenly into four groups, each group standing in front of their posts.

An instructor stood with each group as well.

Looking around at my group there wasn’t one familiar face, ‘Great.’

Looks like I spoke too soon, ‘Marco.’

He had short dark brown hair that parted in the middle, dark eyes and freckles that scattered across his skin.

Marco was tall, he looked to be about 5’10”. 

His eyes flickered over to mine, he gave me a small sheepish smile.

My face remained neutral as I turned to face forward again, one of the instructors for our group began the talk.

Our group had two instructors. 

The first person was an older man with grey hair and wrinkles across his forehead, he also had small circular glasses. 

The other person was a boy, much younger than the first. 

He had short golden blonde hair, he was very built, he also seemed cocky. 

“This task will involve only the rudimentary basics, but even at this stage we are able to see your potential with the maneuver gear.” The older man told us. 

He seemed like a happy guy. 

“Look.” The old man spoke.

All our heads turned to follow the direction he was looking in.

“She’s steady as a rock.” He pointed out.

A girl with short, black hair balanced a few feet off the ground. ’Mikasa’

She really was still as a rock.

It wasn’t surprising that Mikasa had an easy time with the maneuver gear, she looked like a very capable girl.

“She knows exactly what to do. That’s what I mean by potential,” He paused.

“Looks like we have a lot of talent this year.” He admired while looking down the rows, some kids from my group continued to stare as well.

I crossed my arms and left out a huff turning back to the instructor. 

I rolled my eyes, this didn’t go undetected by him. 

A hearty chuckle came from the old man, the younger guy next to him started to laugh as well.

Thick tension filled the air and I felt multiple pairs of eyes on me. 

I slowly raised my head, ‘What did I just get myself into?’

“You make it seem like the maneuver gear will be a piece of cake, why don’t you come try Ms…” The old unnamed man paused.

“Y/n.” I finished.

“Y/n.” The man said triumphantly. 

“Well... “ The younger man next to him impatiently said.

With a disappointed sigh my arms fell at my sides as I straightened up.

‘God the people back on Marley were right, this place really is hell on Earth.’

A small laugh slipped out.

‘I hope the old guy doesn’t think I was laughing at him.’

As if on cue, everyone in my group separated a path, that path leading me straight to the ODM machine.

‘So this is really happening.’

I wasted no time walking to the tall structure now before me.

The two instructors and people in my group almost looked surprised that I was so willing to go first.

‘Isn’t this what they wanted me to do?’

Deciding to break the silence I spoke up.

“So you gonna hook me up to this thing or what? I want to get this over with.” I questioned while putting my hands on my lower back and stretching.

“Hey! You need to talk to him with some respect!” The young man said, he was only able to take a few quick steps before the old man threw his hand out to the side, stopping the young man in his tracks.

The young guy was clearly trying to threaten me.

I threw him a sly, mocking smirk while the old man was faced away from me to scold the latter. 

He tried his best to ignore this.

He was painfully irritated.

I looked into the crowd and met eyes with Jean standing next to Marco. 

Seems like they naturally migrate to each other, cute.

Jean had an almost approving smile on his face, that smile disappeared once he saw I was staring at him though. 

He seemed embarrassed, why?

Marco patted Jean on the back reassuringly.

‘What’s going on with them?’

“I said forget it,” The old guy in front of me paused, his voice piqued. “We’ll give her a fighting chance... don’t expect much.” He scoffed under his breath, he thought I wasn’t listening. 

Now standing under the center of the ODM structure I was hooked up to the machine.

‘This thing is seriously tall.’

Standing light on my feet, I slowly got lifted from the dirt terrain from under my feet.

It was painfully slow, the tips of my boots were the only thing keeping my balance.

Once I was fully off the ground I slightly wobbled forwards and backwards.

‘Shit. I don’t want these guys to think I’m all talk.’

I peered at the two male instructors from the corner off my eye, the old man gave no reaction.

The younger male’s jaw was slightly agape staring at my technique with the gear. 

Assuming I was doing well with the gear I allowed my suppressed smug smile to be revealed. 

After a few more seconds of the instructors inspecting me the older guy spoke up.

“Unhook her.” He said.

“But she’s-” The younger retorted.

“Are you going to unhook her or should i just do it myself?” The old man threatened.

“S-Sir!” The boy said while turning the handle used to lift and lower the gear.

A mocking chuckle fell from my lips.

“Tch, bitch.” The male said.

His golden hair was blinding under the midday sun. 

“Is it safe to assume you didn’t do so well with the ODM gear? I’m sure a big guy like you could have some trouble…” I trailed off, a finger lifted to my lips showing that I’m just teasing.

He was now standing in front of me, his chest aligned with my eyes.

“Maybe. My hand-to-hand combat skills are something else though.” He said, while looking down on me.

A shadow cast across his face due to the sun shining down from above him, his large shadow covering my body for a temporary relief from the blazing sun.

Even though his face was shadowed over his eyes shone bright with intimidation, if he were giving this look to anyone else they'd have pissed themselves by now. 

He held a confident lopsided smile on his face, it almost pissed me off.

His pointy canines not going unnoticed.

“What’s your name, jerk?” I asked while sliding the ODM belt off my hips.

“Felix.” He said while stepping back, allowing me to have a comfortable amount of space to remove my gear.

“I’ll remember that... maybe.” I said while shoving the ODM belt at his chest so the next person could go.

The air left his lungs when the gear entered his grasp, perhaps I shoved it at him too hard.

“Good work, y/n. You may leave for lunch.” The old guy said. 

I nodded in thanks, letting him know I heard him. 

I walked forward to leave and Felix naturally moved out of the way.

My stray hairs flew behind me, off of my face

“Hey-” I heard Felix desperately call to me.

I just kept walking, sinking deeper into the crowd.

People mumbled throughout our area, gossiping about what to expect from the maneuver gear.

\- - - - -

I planned on returning to the shared girls cabin instead of eating lunch until I heard loud laughs coming down the row of ODM machines. 

I found myself naturally migrating toward the shouts.

Pushing through the crowd I saw that Eren kid hanging upside down from the gear, his face bright red.

I’m not sure if his face was red from embarrassment or from all the blood rushing to his head.

I felt someone pushing through the crowd towards me, looking around a deep voice spoke over my shoulder making me jump.

“Looks like you could have the will, but not necessarily the talent.” It was Reiner’s voice.

“Yeah, how unfortunate.” I said relaxed after realizing it was just Reiner, I’m always on edge at this place.

“Wow,” Reiner paused, I turned my head to the right to look at him. “Seems like your senses aren’t as good as they used to be.” He said.

“You must need to transform again, It’s been too long.” He said with a whisper so quiet only I could hear.

My eyes widen in disbelief, why would he say that out in the open like this.

“What’s wrong with you?” I baffled while looking down at my knee high brown boots, my eyebrows furrowed.

“Just throwing that out there that we only have so long left.” He said as if it was the most nonchalant thing ever.

I stayed quiet, he was right but couldn’t he wait to say something to me?

“Reiner-” I looked back to where he was previously standing but he was gone.

“What a dick… he’s just going to put that in my head and leave…” I grumbled under my breath. 

“What are you doing, Eren Jaeger?!” Shadis’ voice cut off all the small giggles and conversations that still floated around.

Shadis was crouched down on the ground, balancing on the heels of his feet.

His long, green cadets jacket resting on the dirt behind him.

Eren’s eyes bulged from his head as sweat dripped down his temples.

“Pick yourself up!” Shadis yelled in Eren’s face.

People throughout the group held in their snickers.

Eren’s arms were limp, his fingertips inches off the ground in his upside down position.

His eyes were wide as he was looking around the crowd, the embarrassment starting to set in.

Shadis quickly turned the handle in a circular motion making Eren drop to the floor, landing in an awkward position on his shoulder.

I scoffed and turned to walk away, as the next cadet got called up to test their fate with the gear. 

Right before I was able to push my way out of the crowd I heard quick steps trailing behind me.

“y/n!” Eren shouted from behind me.

‘What does he want?’

I slowed down but continued to walk, allowing him to catch up to me. 

Once I got out of the crowd Eren caught up.

“What do you want?” I asked him with a sigh.

“You’ve got to help me! Please, I heard you did well with the ODM gear!” He pleaded.

“Eren, don’t you have someone else you could be asking for help?” I asked as we walked towards the direction of the showers.

“Mikasa and Jean did well with the ODM gear too.” I suggested.

His face morphed into a mixture of disgust and offence at what I said.

“Jean? No way, that idiot.” He argued.

“And Mikasa?” I asked while looking at him, he had sweat dripping down his neck along with a necklace that held a golden key on the end.

“I can’t ask her for help! She’ll talk it too far...” He said while looking down at his shoes.

“Too far?” I noisily questioned. 

“She and Armin will just try to convince me to leave the cadets if they hear I’m struggling.” Eren said almost ashamed.

Deciding not to pry any longer I gave in.

“Fine, I’ll help.” I told him.

His eyes lit up and he gave me a large smile.

“You’ll owe me after this though,” I paused, “I’m a busy girl, ya know?” I finished.

“Thank you, y/n. I finally have a chance at becoming a soldier.” He gratefully thanked me.

Our boots clicked as we approached the girls showers, ‘Why is he still following me?’

I grabbed the metal handle of the wood swinging door and pushed it open just enough for me to slip in without Eren being able to peek in, intentional or not.

“Alright this is where we part.” I said while peering my head out of the door with a small smile.

“Sure! Bye y/n, I’ll see you later. Thanks again.” Eren said over his shoulder while walking away.

He took a wrong step and tripped over his own feet.

Eren fell hard on the ground, his knee scraping against a jagged rock sitting halfway out of the dirt.

The dirt picked up from the impact of him hitting the ground.

“Oh, hell…” I said under my breath, contemplating helping him up. 

I pushed the entrance door to the showers open with my foot, letting it swing closed harshly behind me.

I strode over to where Eren sat on the ground.

He was sitting straight up, his left leg rested loosely on the ground and his right leg was curled up to his chest.

“You hurt yourself?” I lazily asked, slowing my pace.

He just hissed in pain while looking at his right knee, his teeth clenched.

I jogged the rest of the way to Eren, closing the gap between us.

I crouched down to meet his eyes, trying to read his face if he was still in pain.

“God, are you okay? Get up and go to med bay, Mikasa would kill me if I left you out here hurt-” What unfolded in front of my eyes made my jaw drop, leaving me with an expression of bewilderment on my face.

I quickly regained my composure and hastily peeled Eren’s hand back from his knee.

Steam rose up from the deep laceration, the skin of his knee closing itself up, the blood from the injury evaporating.

“What is that steam?” Eren questioned, his eyebrows furrowed but his face showing no sign of pain, “That hurt… like bad.” He finished with a grumble.

“Y-yeah I bet it did, you fell hard…” I managed to squeeze out. 

‘What the hell was that?’

“I’m surprised I didn’t even get a scratch.” He told me. 

Deciding to disregard his observation I got lost in my thoughts. 

‘Did I really just find out who stole titan powers from Marley, after five years of being on this pigsty island?’

It seems like Eren doesn’t even know he possesses this cursed power though. 

“And it wasn’t steam,” I paused, “It was just dust that got picked up from you tripping.” I persuaded him. 

If I can convince him everything is normal we can take him back with us to Marley with no problems, he won’t even know what hit him.

\- - - - -

I twisted the knob to the shower, stopping the flow of water coming from the shower head.

As I began to wrap the standard white towel given to the cadets around my body, the door to the showers swung open.

The sound of someone walking through the showers echoed throughout the room as I wrung the shower water from my hair.

The clicking of the boots hitting the tiled floors stopped in front of my shower door, my eyebrow quirked.

“Uh- hello?” I quietly called out from inside my stall, being met with silence, the only sound being the excess drips of water falling from the shower head.

“Y/n?” a feminine voice lazily called out, immediately I recognized it.

“Ymir, Is there something you need?” I pondered, wondering why she was still standing right outside my stall.

Again, I was met with eerie silence.

“Erm, I'll meet you outside in a couple-” 

“Wait, uh- you don’t need to do that, I just have a question…” Ymir called out, sounding almost uneasy.

“Can it wait a little? I'm getting a little cold in here, and Annie wanted to-”

“Just wait!” Ymir almost shouted, her distressed voice rippled throughout the area, much more worrisome this time.

Before I had a chance to respond, she spoke again, her voice trembling.

“Where are you from?” She questioned, making it sound like she was accusing me of something.

‘What's her problem?’

“That's an odd question- like I said before, I came from the outskirts of Wall Maria, you probably aren't familiar with the area...” 

I tried to keep my voice steady, why exactly was she questioning me like this?

“Oh?” Ymir let out a low chuckle, “Y/n, don’t make this hard on me.”

‘What the hell?’

I felt my heart drop. What does she know?  
‘I just need to keep a calm and level head…’

There was a long pause from both parties, we both knew that neither of us was telling the truth.

“So, wall maria? What happened to you and your family after the fall?” Ymir cooed knowingly.

‘I just need to dodge the question, obviously she doesn’t know too much or she would have said something by now’

“Wow, asking such personal questions…” I trailed on trying to buy myself some time, ‘how should I approach this? Just how much does she know?’

“We both know what i'm trying to say, You know what I’m talking about!-” Her explanation soon got cut short as the bathroom door was slammed open.

The stall door banging loudly against the wooden wall.

“What happened to Eren earlier?” Mikasa's dull voice boomed.

She sounded pissed.

“Mikasa we are busy-”

Ymir got cut off, once again.

“Mikasa! I'll explain outside, wait for me.” 

I swiftly grabbed my shower supplies and clothes, sliding past ymir and walking towards Mikasa eagerly.

The sound of my footsteps bounced off the walls, I grabbed Mikasa's hand practically dragging her out of the room.

I let out a wearily breath as we exited the showers.

Without stopping, I continued to drag Mikasa behind me and across the hall that connected the showers and locker room.

Then again, I was relying only on a small towel to cover my naked body.

Swiftly, I shut the door, locking it to make sure no uninvited guests made their way in.

Mikasa quickly snached her hand out of my own, giving me a questioning glare.

“So, what exactly happened to Eren while he was with you earlier? He came back acting strange.” Mikasa pondered, getting straight to the point.

‘How do I explain this?’

“Oh, nothing particularly important, we just talked. Maybe he's bummed out because he can't seem to get the hang of the ODM gear?”

I could practically feel Mikasa's eyes blaring into my soul, debating on whether she buys my answer.

Luckily she seemed content with my excuse, so she turned, unlocking the door.

“Okay then, I'll leave you to get changed, see you later at dinner.” She paused while looking me up and down, “After you change.”

Without another word she stepped out of the locker room, shutting the door behind her. I sat for a second listening to her boots clicking down the hallway.

At the mention of me changing, I realized my clothing situation, or rather lack of clothing.

My face began to get hot, I’ve never been this exposed in front of anyone before other than Pieck and Annie.

Trying to put my mind at ease, I let out a low chuckle, scratching my neck.

‘Geez, how did I make it out of that?’

Finally being alone, the whole situation set in and my mind began racing.

‘Well, Ymir knows something’s up…’ 

I let out a sigh, gripping my towel nervously.

‘Does she know about Marley? How much did she pick up from my futile excuse of a lie?’

Snapping me out of my thoughts, someone started hastily knocking on the door.

‘I just can't seem to catch a break tonight, can I?’

“Yes?” I lazily called out, already done with everyone and it wasn't even dinner yet.

‘Speaking of dinner, I’m starving…’

“y/n, let me in” A voice ordered from the other side of the door, I heard them shifting around on their feet waiting for my next move.

My mood instantly lifted, a smile spreading onto my face, but quickly falling, being replaced with nervousness.

‘I hope she doesn’t get mad.’

I slowly unlocked the door, peeking my head out.

Her hand slipped in the crack, pushing the door open all the way so she could walk in.

“Wow, how pushy, Annie. Were you that desperate to see me?” I teased her, trying to mask my anxiety.

She let out a sight in response, her eyes slowly peering into mine. It was obvious she already knew something was up.

Annie cleared her throat, reading my face instantly.

She was the only one who truly understood me, other than the other warriors.

Mine and Annie’s relationship is just… different though.

“Have something to tell me?” She pushed her bangs away from her eyes, continuing to stare at me.

“What gave you that idea...?” My voice came out shaky and awkward, Annie rolled her eyes at my pitiful antics.

“Tell Bertholdt and Reiner we need a meeting. As soon as possible, it's urgent.” I sternly finished.

Her eyes widened for a split second, we've never had an ‘Emergency’ meeting before.

“Yes, how about tonight at 3?”

“What? Why so late? I need my sleep Annie-” I whined, Annie quickly shut down my childish act with a glare.

“Then when exactly do you suggest we do it? In the middle of the day when everyone is awake and training? Hm?” 

She was stressed out, even if she didn't show it I could tell she was nervous for whatever I had to say.

I didn’t respond, knowing she had a point.

“That's what I thought. Hurry and get dressed, also don’t think you’ll get away with not eating your portion of food at dinner.” She turned around getting ready to leave.

“I know how you get when you’re nervous.” She said with a hushed voice.

And with that, she slid back into the hallway, leaving me by myself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading chapter 7!   
> Next chapter everyone at graduation so there will be a time skip sometime next chapter.  
> Look out for chapter 8 by the end of this week.  
> Unedited chap.  
> Word count - 3,765  
> -k

**Author's Note:**

> additional notes  
> Please don't be afraid to comment even if you're just saying hi! I'm a bit nervous to publish this lol  
> -k


End file.
